Abstract

To assess health literacy in an adult tertiary care otolaryngology clinic population and to explore potential determinants of inadequate health literacy.Cross-sectional study.Tertiary care otolaryngology clinic.The study population included all adult patients treated at 3 of Stanford University's adult otolaryngology clinic sites between March 1 and 11, 2016. Data were collected via an anonymous questionnaire. Health literacy was assessed with the Brief Health Literacy Screen.Ten percent of patients had inadequate health literacy. White race (odds ratio [OR], 0.23) and having English as the primary language (OR, 0.12) were associated with adequate health literacy, while high school or lower level of education (OR, 3.2) was associated with inadequate health literacy. Age, sex, and Hispanic ethnicity were not associated with health literacy.Our study highlights the need for health literacy screening in the otolaryngology clinic setting and identifies sociodemographic risk factors for inadequate health literacy. Further studies are needed to assess the impact of health literacy on patient outcomes and to test specific interventions to address health literacy and health outcomes.

View details for DOI 10.1177/0194599816664331

View details for Web of Science ID 000389146500009

View details for PubMedID 27554512